dietary supplement of curcumin in subjects with active relapsing multiple sclerosis treated with subcutaneous interferon beta 1a

Conditions: Multiple Sclerosis

Summary: this is a prospective, monocentric, double blind, placebo controlled, two arm study. curcumin is derived from the rhizomes of the plant curcuma longa (common name, turmeric) belonging to the zingiberaceae family found in south asian countries, especially india which is the largest producer. bcm95 (biocurcumin) is a combination of a curcumin extract and oil to enhance the bio-absorbability in humans. bcm95 may enhance and prolong the antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects of the standard therapy maintaining a good safety profile.

the subjects must experience at least one gadolinium (gd) enhancing magnetic resonance imaging (mri) lesion at the baseline visit or one multiple sclerosis (ms) relapse in the last 6 months before the screening visit. randomization, in a 1:1 ratio, will be done with two arms: 40 subjects with interferon (ifn) beta 1 a 44 mcg tiw + curcumin (bcm 95) and 40 subjects with ifn beta-1a 44 mcg tiw + placebo. the study will last 42 months: 18 months of enrolment and 24 months of treatment period. the study consists of 6 visits per subject: screening visit (visit 0), baseline (visit 1), a visit 3 months after baseline (visit 2), 6 months after baseline (visit 3), 12 months after baseline (visit 4) and 24 months after baseline (visit 5).

Eligibility criteria:
inclusion criteria: * subjects with early diagnosis (no more than 3 years) of relapsing multiple sclerosis according to the revised mcdonald criteria (2010) * subjects currently in treatment with ifn beta-1a 44 mcg tiw, having received this treatment a minimum of 6 months and for not longer than 12 months before enrollment. * subjects must experience at least one gd-enhancing mri lesion at baseline visit or one ms relapse in the last 6 months before screening visit. * males and females between 18 - 60 years of age * subjects with expanded disability status scale (edss) between 0-5.5 * no use of oral or systemic corticosteroids or corticotropin (acth) within 30 days prior to screening visit. no use of any disease modifying drug (dmd) (other than ifn beta-1a 44 mcg) 12 months prior to screening visit * be willing and able to comply with the protocol * signed informed consent exclusion criteria: * pregnancy and breast-feeding * history of alcohol or drug abuse * serious psychiatric disorders * history or presence of serious or acute gastrointestinal disease such as gastric or duodenal ulcer, ulcerative colitis and inflammatory bowel or crohn's disease * subjects suffering by obstruction of the biliary tract * any major medical condition that in the opinion of the investigator could create a risk to the subject or could affect adherence with the trial protocol. * subjects with inadequate haematological function (defined by leukocyte ≤ 2,0 x 10\^9 ; platelets ≤ 100 x 10\^9; haemoglobin ≤ 12 g/dl for female and ≤ 13 g/dl for male), liver function (defined by ast, alt, alkaline phosphatase \> 2.0 times upper limit of normal), thyroid function (in particular subjects with clinically overt hyperthyroidism or clinically overt hypothyroidism and in any case according to physician's discretion). * known hypersensitivity to gadolinium * any other condition that would prevent the subject from undergoing an mri scan (impairment of kidney function, metal prosthesis etc.) * immunosuppressive therapy 12 months before screening visit * use of some recognized drugs involved as enzyme substrates, inducers or inhibitors in p450 system * use of antiplatelet agents or antihyperlipidemics * any contra-indication according to ifn beta 1a 44 mcg summary of product characteristics (smpc)

Keywords: multiple sclerosis relapsing interferon beta 1a curcumin